In Kunming…..again!!!

Early Friday morning Michael and I caught a taxi  (in pouring rain) from the hotel at XTBG and headed to the airport in Jinghong.

This airport is very small and only a few planes are ever there at the same time. 

When we checked in, our bags were checked to “PEK”, the Beijing airport, but the board for our flight said Kunming.  This confused us but we finally decided that we probably had a layover in Kunming.

We had an hour wait in the airport and settled in to wait.

We had a laugh at the status board as once a plane took off the status was listed as “Fly”!!!

We had watched MANY people taking photos of themselves as they walked to the plane so decided not to be outdone……

We settled into our seats and were dismayed at how tight the space was.   There was barely enough room for our legs and there was no way that the person in front could lean back.

We took off and, sure enough, we landed in Kunming…..again!!!!

As we were exiting the plane, we asked the attendant how we caught our next flight to Beijing and she told us to check with the flight counter in the terminal.  So, we dutifully exited the plane and climbed onto the bus that would take us to the terminal.

We stood there for several minutes, waiting for the doors to close and for us to take off.   Then a man came to each of the doors and yelled something into the bus.  On his second pass by the doors, Michael heard the word “ Beijing” so he stepped up to try to figure out what was going on.

The attendant looked at our boarding passes and proceeded to motion us to a smaller bus that was parked to the side of the plane.  OK…..so WE were the reason that the bus hadn’t left yet.   We could just hear what the other riders were saying about us!!!!!

We rode, along with 4 other passengers, to the terminal, and as we entered the gate area we were given new boarding passes.  Our next flight left in 30 minutes!!!

Michael headed off to buy coffee and asked if I wanted anything.  My answer was….CHOCOLATE  (I had gone for FIVE days without it)!!!!!

He walked immediately to the closest kiosk and came back with FOUR Snickers…..perfect!!!!

We boarded yet another bus and drove back to the EXACT SAME plane, which we boarded and sat in our EXACT SAME (uncomfortable) seats!!!!   Couldn’t we have just STAYED on the plane???

Fortunately, the flight to Beijing went quickly and we soon landed.  I love this mural that appears above the escalator in the airport…..

Our taxi delivered us at the Grand Hyatt Beijing, our home sweet home.  We checked in and were shown to our gorgeous room……

Sometimes a bit of luxury is a wonderful thing!!!!!

I love the special touches that a nice hotel have, such as these beautiful flowers in our room…..

We went downstairs to have dinner at one of the hotel restaurants and were told that, since we didn’t have a reservation, we would have to sit in the “loud kitchen area” and that we would have to be finished in 1-1/2 hours!!

We loved sitting by the kitchen and spent a fair amount of time watching the chefs as they made dumplings and noodles…..  

…..or stir-frying wonderful dishes in large woks…..

Our favorite menu item was a spicy Lamb with onions……

We also enjoyed these freshly made spring rolls……

The most fun food of the night was my dessert….banana slices drizzled with chocolate, and wrapped in a mixture of coconut and crunchy noodles.  It had an excellent flavor and was wonderfully presented!!!!

Tomorrow…..the Great Wall!!!!